When asked the meaning of the name Dilolo, Shakatwala gave the following account of the formation of the lake.

A female chief, called Moene (lord) Monenga, came one evening to the village of Mosogo, a man who lived in the vicinity, but who had gone to hunt with his dogs.

She asked for a supply of food, and Mosogo's wife gave her a sufficient quantity.

Proceeding to another village standing on the spot now occupied by the water, she preferred the same demand, and was not only refused, but, when she uttered a threat for their niggardliness, was taunted with the question, "What could she do though she were thus treated ?" In order to show what she could do, she began a song, in slow time, and uttered her own name, Monenga-wo-o.

As she prolonged the last note, the village, people, fowls, and dogs sank into the space now called Dilolo.